A urinal is a receptacle, typically constructed of porcelain or similar material, having substantially vertical walls above a collection basin that includes a drain. The smooth, nearly vertical walls provide a surface to receive a stream of urine from a man using the urinal. When the urinal is flushed, water is directed over the walls, into the collection basin and through the drain. The drain, usually positioned around the lowest point of the collection basin, receives urine during urination and flushing as well as water during flushing. Urinals are typically designed for mounting on restroom walls, though some urinals are configured for floor mounting.
Most urinals are designed to retain a residual amount of water in the drain area of the collection basin, which dilutes urine collected there during urination. Often, a screen or a grid is used to cover the urinal drain and prevent any large debris deposited in the urinal from entering the drain. Sometimes, other drain designs are used to accomplish this same goal.
The porcelain construction of most urinals makes for hard-surfaced walls and collection basins. These hard surfaces reflect or deflect some portion of any urine stream directed thereon, splashing droplets of urine away from the point where the stream and the surface meet. Further, a urine stream directed into the residual water typically present in the collection basin also will cause splashing, in this case of a urine-water mixture. Of course, most urinals are designed to retain much of the splashing caused during their use. However, splashing of some droplets out of the urinal is common, particularly when the urine stream impinges on the residual water. These stray droplets land on the user's clothing or hands, or on the restroom surfaces surrounding the urinal. Without some means for controlling this splashing, or frequent and rigorous cleaning, a urinal will eventually be accompanied by an unpleasant odor arising from urine droplets deposited on surrounding surfaces.
A variety of devices are designed for placement in a urinal to achieve a variety of ends. These goals include collecting solid debris and providing a fragrance or odor-absorbing chemical. Most common are drain mats intended to collect solid debris. Often these are simple pieces of flexible material containing small drain holes and configured over the urinal drain to catch any solid debris larger than the holes. A more versatile type of drain mat includes a holder configured to receive a deodorant urinal cake in addition to drain holes. The deodorant cake slowly dissolves, providing a fragrant, or odor absorbing, chemical to mask, or neutralize, the odor of urine that would otherwise emanate from the region surrounding the urinal. These cakes, or indeed the entire mat-cake system, are replaced periodically as the cakes dissolve away. Unfortunately, typical mats can increase splashing as such mats present an irregular surface to a urine stream.
Some in-urinal devices attempt to accomplish these common goals while simultaneously reducing the incidence of splashing. One of these is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,672 to Luedtke et al., which describes a urinal mat provided with upstanding baffles to decelerate a stream of urine impinging thereon. The tiny upstanding baffles are spaced apart and formed from a flexible plastic material used to construct all parts of the mat. According to the teachings of Luedtke, the baffles' height is approximately the same order of magnitude as the spaces between them.
Unfortunately, this type of construction allows at least some portion of a urine stream to impinge on the mat surface without interruption, and relies on the presence of the baffles to break up any splash back produced. Furthermore, though the baffles are described as “flexible”, Luedtke makes no teaching or suggestion that the baffles exhibit flexure under a stream of urine. In fact, Luedtke teaches equivalence between baffles that will not exhibit flexure under a stream of urine, e.g. pyramidal baffles, and those that might possibly do so, e.g. tiny hooks or cones supported on cylinders. By teaching this equivalence, Luedtke indicates that baffle flexure under a urine stream is an unimportant characteristic.
Hence, no prior invention teaches a urinal mat covered in densely packed bristles that exhibit flexure when struck by a stream of urine to inhibit splash back.